Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 5 – The Father’s House
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." -John 14:1-3 Talk about great expectations! We have a place prepared for
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 3 – Good Out of Evil
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. -Genesis 50:20 In Your 100 Day Prayer: The Transforming Power of Waiting on God, we read that this statement is "one of the most amazing truths in the Bible. It summarizes the entire history of faith—yours, mine, and everyone else's… It speaks of God's mysterious ability to take any and all evil, all malicious intent, and turn it
Your 100 Day Prayer Journey: Day 2 – Don’t Worry
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear…But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. -Matthew 6:25,33 Isn't it wonderful that God's word tells us not to worry about anything? God will take care of everything if we trust and believe him. So why don't we trust him to do as he says? German
My Tough Love Is Still Love—Love, God
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. –Hebrews 12:10-11 Is it possible for anyone to like God’s discipline and correction? We certainly don’t enjoy being disciplined by our parents when we’re young. It hurts
Facedown in the Dust
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. -Psalm 18:6 What doesn’t kill you will try again. Have you heard that? It could have described King David’s life. Persecuted, betrayed, feeling abandoned by God, he could have turned in despair against his Creator. Instead, in great gratitude to God, he uttered the above words in Psalm 18. But read the words before them that
Forgetting God
Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! -Psalm 36:5–7 Let’s say you’re going through a challenging time—you pray constantly, and God delivers you and answers your prayer. What do you do after that? Many jump for joy at the answer to their prayer and promise God they’ll never forget what he has done. But then, after
Father God: The Family Privileges
In our fast-lane world, God—the quintessence of what is truly important—is increasingly obsolete, out of mind, and out of the picture. He just doesn’t fit in. Obsessed with anything but God, our attention has been diverted from the big questions: how we got here, for what purpose, and where we’re going. We’ve traded the issues of God’s existence, sovereignty and purpose over all of life for the perishable. It’s when we discover that the things we’ve surrounded ourselves with can’t help us
Giver or Taker
Giver or taker? Which one are you? God is the biggest giver in the Bible. His gift to us is the gift of salvation. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Bible clearly defines who God wants us to be—a giver. It is not only pleasing to God to give and serve, but it is also the Christian’s job description and a way
God Is Watching Over You
The biblical character Job is a classic example of someone who lost everything—his beloved children, financial wealth, health, and everything he treasured. What Job learned in the long reflections and conversations with his Creator was the fact that he was not in charge of his life or anyone else’s. He was not God and was not in a position to second-guess God. He was left with the only confession that one can make when there’s nothing left: “The Lord gave,
The Star of Bethlehem
“After listening to the king, they [the Magi] went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” – Matthew 2:9–10 The new dazzling light that appeared in the night sky, catching the Magi’s attention in the first place, rarely gets the press it deserves. This anomaly led these professional star-watchers to
